A Certain Alternate Universe
by passwordrawr
Summary: In a world without magic, a new Level 5 esper emerges - the God of Plague.


A/N: After reading 6 or so volumes of Index, the entirety of the Railgun manga, and scouring this site, I've been inspired to write my own AU - and while it is certainly cheesy, I'm going to do it because it's fun. Special thanks to Henry who will be assisting me throughout the writing of this fic.

In Academy City, technology was 20 to 30 years ahead of the rest of the world - there existed supercomputers capable of calculating the movement of the entire world's air molecules, medical technology able to regrow entire missing limbs, and perhaps the most intriguing development of them all - ESPers, young men and women gifted with various fantastical abilities ranging from telepathy to electrokinesis.

Academy City received its name as up to 80% of its population consisted of students - espers who studied both educational curriculum and ways to improve their powers. These espers were divided into 6 "Levels," ranging from Level 0 to 5. Level 0s technically did have esper powers, but they could not be utilized. The common generalization was that a Level 0 could bend a spoon after all their blood vessels burst. Level 1 esper were able to use their powers on a small scale: pyrokineticists could produce a flame comparable to a cigarette lighter, telepathy was restricted to vague ideas, etc. Level 2 and 3 espers were considered average and held the amount of power you could expect from superhumans. Level 4 espers held either stronger variants of their Level 3 counterparts or unique abilities like "Teleport" and "Move Point," abilities able to distort conventional physics. Level 4 espers were also often considered the pinnacle of development. If levels were to be likened to a pyramid, Level 0 was the base and Level 4 the peak. However there exists another classification - Level 5. There were only 7 espers designated Level 5, and it was said each of them held enough power to completely destroy an army. If 0 was the base and 4 was the peak, Level 5 was the sky above.

It all started when Kamijou Touma lost his memories. The boy had a knack for getting into all sorts of trouble, from walking in on girls changing, tripping and landing in compromising situations, consequently getting harassed by beautiful women… Depending on the viewer his luck could be considered extremely positive. For better or worse, his powerful luck kept things around him interesting.

Kamijou Touma was a Level 0. He was an ordinary high school student you could find anywhere. He did not have a secret persona nor fancy gadgets that helped him fight crime, all he had was a failing grade in all his classes, a room in his high school dormitory, and a small allowance that kept him from starving. Although he did not have any power, he held a keen sense of justice.

It was this sense of justice that caused him to intervene when he saw a young girl being harassed by a group of street thugs while returning from supplementary lessons. As expected, he couldn't just walk by and turn his head away.

"There you are, I've been looking for you! Don't stray around like that you idiot. You getting lost just makes my life harder." Both the girl and her harassers turned to stare at him.

"Thanks for taking care of her, but we have to go now." With a bravado Touma didn't know he had he grasped the girl's hand and managed to take 3 steps away from the delinquents before they came to their senses.

"Get back here you little brats!" The violent love call chased after them as the pair fled.

 **_(ZzZ)_**

After being chased around the residential area for approximately 2 and a half hours, the unlikely duo managed to lose their pursuers. Gasping for breath, Touma opened his mouth -

"Are you out of your mind!?" - he was cut off.

"What?" He blinked.

"I said, are you out of your mind? Who dives into a group of delinquents for a stranger and drags them around for 3 hours!? And let go of my hand!" The girl's words were sharp.

"Ah, sorry…" Touma released her and scratched his head with his right hand. In truth he hadn't been thinking, he just felt the need to act once he saw the situation.

"Besides, I had the situation all under control." The girl flicked her hair and bluish white sparks sizzled along her bangs.

Right. This was Academy City, where adolescents wielded supernatural powers as if it was natural. He could tell from the sparks the girl was at least level 3. Of course, Touma had not encountered many espers above level 1, seeing as he was a level 0 himself, but he trusted his gut. The strong gathered near the the strong, and the weak tended to avoid the strong. Levels formed an unspoken hierarchy, and one would be hard pressed to find a group that consisted of a large range of levels, either casual and professional.

"I couldn't just stand by when I saw that, you know. Even if you might be a strong esper…"

"You could have, just like the other 20 or so people that passed by me. You had no obligation to help."

"Well, that's true, but…""

"Whatever, idiot."

With a "hmph" the girl turned away from Touma. "Since I'm almost late for curfew I'll let you go for now."

With that condescending line, the girl departed, stray sparks fizzling with a 'biribiri.'

"What's with that?" The question hung in the air for a brief moment before he realized how late it was. "Crap! I still have homework due!"

Rushing back towards his dorm, he noticed a girl - no, a nun dressed in a white habit. This was not a cosplay, but a genuine Anglican nun in full garb - what caught his eye was not primarily the peculiar clothing, but the 'do not cross' signal that was currently flashing red. Also drawing his attention was the currently speeding truck that was approaching the intersection. Perhaps the most alarming thing was how the nun stepped into the street.

"Such misfortune!" Touma cried out in his heart. Nonetheless, Touma ran towards the girl dressed in white. Roughly tugging her back from the street, he turned to the girl who was currently rubbing her arm (from where he grabbed her) and was about to give a lecture when the sound of burning rubber reached his ears.

Kamijou Touma was flung to the concrete. The girl's worried cry and the swears of the truck driver sounded distant. 'Such misfortune,' Touma lamented once again as his vision faded.


End file.
